Conjoined Fates
by Aisa Hitsuuna
Summary: Naruto and Sayuri are runaways from Konoha, and have been travelling and training by themselves. They fight to death against a fearsome opponent and are sent to the Soul Society as new souls. Now, the ninja's must follow their new fate in a completely new world... UP FOR ADOPTION
1. Chapter 1

Sayuri retreated beneath the looming shadow of the big Weeping Willow, happy to save her skin from the harsh rays of the sun. Beads of sweat rolled from her hairline, the heat illuminating from the day star kilometers away enough to send her in a frenzy before she had even began to do anything productive. She feared her state of dehydration when she actually began the task assigned, it had a tendency to drain a lot of her energy. She had arrived earlier after she finished her shift at the family bookshop.

She felt a growing sense of anxiety building up within her, where people would usually be excited to be as rebellious as she. It wasn't like she resented meeting him, it was the consequences that came with it that sent her into a panic attack. Naruto Uzumaki had a inhumane reputation around the village, known as the village demon for reasons her parents would never admit to. At first she believed he was another person interested in books like she, even though he usually ran out before a conversation could strike up between the two, until her parents reprimanded her for even trying to serve the child. Now, Sayuri knew she was a coward, so there was no need to remind her, even if her fear of the treatment the villagers would dish out to her for simply being an associate of the 'demon' was acceptable.

Nevertheless, Sayuri enjoyed meeting him. Whether it be because Naruto contradicted his nasty rumors or his comforting personality, she enjoyed receiving his time and attention. Now, there were no romantic feelings in the relationship they shared- heck they were far too young for that- she viewed him as a stress-reliever. He didn't breath down her neck because he was constantly trying to sculpt a 'perfect daughter' out of her like her parents, or completely ignore her existence like her 'friends'. He was Naruto, and that was more than enough for her.

The sound of rushes footsteps caught Sayuri's attention and when the pendulous branches and leaves of the tree were brushed aside to reveal sun-kissed blond hair and ocean blue eyes, 'Hey!' Sayuri greeted before eagerly patting the spot beside her. 'Sit down.'

Naruto shuffled and Sayuri's eyebrows furrowed together in suspicion. In all her time being Naruto's friend, he had never been so down before. 'Hi,' He murmured in preoccupation, barely even acknowledging the bookworm as he sat down. Naruto was, as cruel as it sounded, never thinking, which immediately struck a cord in Sayuri.

'What's wrong?' Sayuri may have been shy to the peering eyes of the Konoha citizens, but she knew better than to beat around the bush with a loudmouth like Naruto. A straightforward approach always worked best, but when she received no response she began to question her thinking. 'Naruto...?'

Naruto glanced up from the ground and gave an encouraging grin towards Sayuri, like he was trying to clear her of her worries. 'Nothing's wrong,' At her doubtful glance, Naruto added more to his explanation. 'I'm just thinking about something.' Sayuri frowned again, this time thinking too. Ah. It must be Sasuke again, it usually was.

'Did Sasuke-'

'Nah.'

'... Oh.'

Sayuri swallowed the lump in her throat. Something was definitely wrong- the Naruto she knew wasn't sitting beside her. It had to be a fake. His saddened blue orbs finally tore away from the uncut blades of grass his feet were currently crushing, meeting Sayuri's deep green jewels. 'Sayuri...' No nickname, she had noted. 'What if I told you that... I would have to leave. What would you do?' The question caught Sayuri by surprise and she generally didn't know how to answer.

'What?' Deciding not to answer the question, she probed it instead. 'Why the sudden question? A-Are you leaving somewhere, Naruto? Is that why you're all doom and gloom?' Naruto shrugged and she jumped to the worse case scenario. 'What? Naruto, could you at least tell me where you're going?'

Naruto blinked for the first time since he entered the Weeping Willow's clutches. 'Please, answer the question.' Sayuri narrowed her eyes before she sighed solemnly. She couldn't escape the question or get information from the stubborn blond- one of his mysterious parent's HAD to be a red head. Sayuri knew how stubborn they could be, strangely enough.

'If you had to leave... I'd protest. I mean, well, yeah. I wouldn't agree with the decision, call it crazy even. I... Doubt that I'll follow you, because I have responsibilities here but I will definitely keep in touch- assuming that my desire to keep you here is achieved, which it would be.' Sayuri wasn't as blind as to not notice Naruto's growing happiness. 'But you wouldn't be leaving any time soon, so _you_ shouldn't have to worry about how I would react.'

Then his mood deflated again and Sayuri's reverse psychology failed, 'I see... ' Seeing as it wasn't a time to discreetly convince him to stay, Sayuri dived into her detective mode.

'Okay, Naruto, spit it out. Asking me what I'd do if you were to leave? Is that your so-called 'ninja' interrogation skills at the working?' Naruto blinked once more and Sayuri took no note of it. 'Are you trying to tell me something? I might know what you're trying to say but I'm hoping I'm assuming wrong.'

Naruto nodded, eyes deep blue as they reflected his gloomy mood. 'Did you know Konoha had a council?' The information took Sayuri by surprise. 'Grandpa didn't like them too much because they don't like me. Did you know that the council wants to protect the village? That the only way they could do that was to banish the demon? Did you know that, Sayuri?'

'After all, you're grandparents _are_ the council.'

Sayuri's eyes widened like saucers. 'G-Granny Koharu and Grandpa Homura?' Naruto nodded, looking as if he couldn't believe the revelation himself. 'W-What? Why would they do such a thing?' Sayuri demanded an explanation, not entirely impressed with her grandparents' behavior at the moment. Heck, when did they even become the Konoha Council? Why wasn't such a family occupation shone upon Sayuri? Being 8 didn't mean they could hide that from her.

'I don't know but I have to leave soon, ya know.' The tears fell freely then and Sayuri gasped. She had never seen Naruto cry before and although she expected it at the situation, she still didn't know how to deal with it. Usually she was the one crying. 'A-And even though I hate the villagers... I-I don't wanna l-leave!' Sayuri reacted as quickly as she could, squeezing Naruto in her arms while her eyes widened even further as a thought occurred to her.

'If what you say if true, that my Grandparents are the council, then I'll talk to them into letting you stay, Naruto! I'll rip that damn petition into shreds if that doesn't work. I can't have you leave, I won't accept such a thing.' Naruto's sobs turned far more brutal and suddenly, Sayuri's uniform was warm with tears.

Sayuri awkwardly stroked Naruto's dead and spiky hair, eyes sparking while she did so. 'You're not leaving on my watch. You don't deserve this kind of treatment,' Where would he even go? Were the civilians of Konoha that cruel? Honestly, what could be so bad that they would kick an innocent and defenseless child _out_ of a village- which was way worse than living on the streets! At least the Hokage could watch over him from there and help. Outside the village though, with a banishment too, it was way to incredibly **moronic** that Sayuri couldn't let it pass.

* * *

Sayuri pushed the fishcakes around with her closed chopsticks, flipping them and stabbing them when she felt some anger peak when she saw her Grandparents. _First things first, confront them about their occupation._ It wouldn't do Sayuri any good to outright scream at her Grandparents for something that, Sayuri hoped, they truly had nothing to do with. She didn't want to believe that Naruto was lying, but she truly hoped that her Grandparents weren't the Konoha Civilian Council otherwise she would surely _never_ forgive them.

Sayuri cleared her throat and glanced up at her Grandparents, restraining the bitter look that so badly wanted to make itself known. Ever since her mother had told her Grandparents that _she associated with the demon child_ their relationship had been strained. 'Granny Koharu, Grandpa Homura,' the two old hags glanced at Sayuri in unison, not looking please that the quiet atmosphere of the table was disturbed.

'Yes, Sayuri?' Koharu questioned, her voice naturally sounding grave. She had experienced war though, so a battle scar like that was to be expected.

Sayuri swallowed the lump in her throat, 'What do you two do as jobs? I never really knew.' Instantly, their old faces lit up and Sayuri's heart fluttered. Perhaps there was a chance...!

'Well, me and your Grandpa are highly respected people in this village. Being two of the only surviving students of Tobirama-sama, it's only natural that our wisdom would be treated with such high regards.' Sayuri's eyes subtly narrowed in confusion. 'We're the Konoha Council! Where the decisions of the Hokage have to pass through us first.' Koharu said with the utmost pride in her tone.

Homura nodded in sullen agreement. 'It's true. We are a lot more influential and special than you would think, Sayuri. We aren't just bags of bones.' Sayuri never thought otherwise. 'Most recently, we've came up with something that will greatly benefit the village in the future. It's being announced by Hiruzen tomorrow at noon and even if you're our granddaughter, it wouldn't be fair to spoil the surprise.'

Sayuri nodded nonchalantly. 'Let me guess,' She said, voice sounding like it was brimming with excitement. 'You invented a petition to rid the village of an ten-year-old demon?' The council members had equally shocked faces, mimicking Sayuri's parent's. 'Wait, I'm not done... The council signed it and it has been agreed that someone who can't defend themselves is to be banished from the village?'

Sayuri's mother gasped. 'Sayuri Mitokado, you stop sputtering such nonsense right now! Where is your respect?'

Sayuri's eyes blazed as she snapped her head to her oblivious birth-giver. 'My respect was thrown out the window the minute I found out Naruto was going to be banished from the village! Mother, regardless of his title in the village, do you truly believe that kicking someone my own age out of the village is remotely _good? ' _

Sayuri father inhaled deeply, almost as if he was trying to suppress himself from lashing out. 'Sayuri, please stop regarding the demon child so casually. Defending him is already enough... '

'No! It's not enough! That's like throwing _me_ out!'

Koharu was shocked frozen, so Homura took the reins of the conversation. 'You've done nothing wrong though, Sayuri. The-'

Sayuri frowned. 'Naruto's done nothing wrong! He's only trying to be acknowledged, trying to gain recognition from the village that hates him so much. Why can't anyone see that he's really a good person?' Homura shook his head.

'Sayuri, that boy is not what you think.' Sayuri met Homura's gaze with a fiery stare. 'He's responsible for more things than you'd imagine. His connection to the destruction and disaster that fell upon this village 10 years ago proves him to be a demon. He's taken many lives, Sayuri and I believe that he's brainwashed you.' Sayuri's eyes widened.

'What could Naruto have possibly done wrong 10 years ago? He would've just been born.' Sayuri defended, getting a point.

Homura sighed but Koharu snapped herself from her daze. 'It's illegal information, Sayuri. Now, run off to bed. You'll receive no dinner tonight as punishment, and hopefully you've learned your lesson.'

Sayuri blinked. 'What lesson? Banish innocent children from villages?'

Sayuri's mother frowned. 'Sayuri, off to your room right this instant!' She hissed venomously, immensely embarrassed with her daughters behavior. As if her parents-in-law hadn't hated her already, now they'd loathe her very existence. She could hear them reprimanding her to raising a rude child already...

Sayuri continued to rebel. 'I'm sorry mother, but I cannot possibly let this decision proceed! Naruto's done nothing wrong, he's done nothing to harm anyone... So, why... Why does he get hurt the most?!' Sayuri's mother backed off, very surprised at her daughters deep emotion in the current topic. Her father had already shut his mouth, but it was certainly zipped shut now.

Koharu inhaled and exhaled. 'Sayuri, you're tired. Please, sleep this crazy thinking away... It's not healthy.'

Sayuri's lip trembled and her eyes began to fill with tears and suddenly, she was gone from the table with her steps echoing from the hall until the sound of her door slamming made Koharu and Homura sigh in disappointment. 'And I had such high hopes for her.' They both muttered in unison. Sayuri's mother apologize, but the old duo ignored her and told Sayuri's father to control his child.

'Discipline that girl, son. That naive thinking will do nothing good for her in the future.' Sayuri's father nodded, and that was the last of the old duo. The parents then walked to their daughters room, aiming to make sure that she would never cause such a stunt ever again. Sayuri's father knocked on her door while her mother tapped her foot against the wooden floors impatiently waiting for an answer. When they received one, her mother threw open the door.

'Alright, Sayuri, this attitude is getting out of...' The looked at the opened draws and window and both hearts stopped. 'Your attitude...'

Their daughter was gone.

* * *

Naruto looked down guilty. 'I understand that this was a personal decision, Sayuri, but... ' He began but Sayuri cut him off with a fierce scoff.

'While I will admit that this decision is far beyond the word _impulsive_ I refuse to share a home with a group of hypocritical tyrants. That's not the type of environment I wish to grow up in- it's as simple as that.' Naruto opened his mouth but closed it once Sayuri began to shut him down. 'I'm aware of the consequences, Naruto. I'm aware that I will miss my parents, possibly even my grandparents and I'm not even going to deny that I'll regret this decision every now and then but, I'll tell you this now, before sadness clouds my judgement. I'm glad, Naruto. This is the choice that I know will end out well for me, my gut tells me so, and it makes it even better than I'm going with you.' The blonde still looked guilty and even angry, dare Sayuri mention.

He then began to express his emotions. 'I don't want you to come,' He said suddenly, throwing Sayuri's determination off track. 'You have a family that is nice to you, that has raised you, that loves you. I've never had parents, or even a family, and it makes me angry that you're willing to throw away that privilege for me.' Sayuri gulped, '... No, I do want you to come. I really do, but I can't let you come, Sayuri. You have a family, one that I would kill for... I can't allow you to throw that away.'

Sayuri looked speechless for a few moments but she frowned. 'Yeah. You're right. I am lucky to have a family. You're not lucky at all... But you're apart of me now, Naruto. Whether you like it or not. So suck it up, princess, because I'm coming with you! Got it?' Naruto didn't know whether to feel happy about this decision or very, very angry about it.

'But, Sayuri, your family...'

The girl looked away from Naruto, the sadness already catching up to her. 'I'll find a way to deal with it. Didn't I tell you this was my decision.'

'Impulsive decision.' Naruto added with a sour face. Sayuri narrowed her eyes.

'It's as impulsive as they come, but it'll all be worth it. As I said before, I'm lucky. You're not. If we tie these fortunes together, we'll be perfectly fine.' Naruto had the decency to allow a small blush to fire up on his face. Sayuri crossed her arms and shifted the bag on her back around. 'When do we leave? Are we supposed to get an escort or something?'

Naruto shook his head. 'Nah, they didn't want to risk it.' Sayuri's eyes widened and she raised her arms up in surrender.

'Well, I'll be dammed! This village doesn't have an ounce of courtesy.' Sayuri exhaled out in amazement before rubbing her forehead. 'Honestly, now my decision is set. We're leaving, Naruto.' Naruto didn't really talk, just shrugged and announced quite happily that they were about to take a journey for the rest of their lives, making Sayuri's excitement peak from rock bottom.

They wanted to get away from the village fast so they began their first steps with sprints, Sayuri not lasting too long due to her below average stamina and speed, in contrast to the trained kid beside her, but she lasted long enough to get out of sights. They walked for a while, Naruto offering Sayuri some water which she gladly accepted.

'A few hours ago,' He began quite sadly. 'I asked what you would do if I were to leave. You said that you'd protest, but you doubted that you'd come with me. What changed that, Sayuri?' The girl blinked and looked at Naruto with a sheepish grin.

She hummed. 'I honestly did doubt that I would come, because I thought that you were going to leave at your own accord but being forced to leave, by my grandparents no less, really changed my opinion. I couldn't let you leave alone, you've suffered enough of that already... Though, that's not good enough, is it?' Naruto thought about it before slowly shaking his head. 'Yeah, I'll think about that answer but for now, let's just say it was my better instinct.'

Naruto nodded and they walked in a tense silence before Naruto looked down at his feet. 'It was a kind thing you did. No one would've done that for me, or anyone...' Sayuri turned to Naruto just in time to see the beaming smile he directed at her, tears falling from his eyes. 'Thank you, Sayu-chan... Thank you.' Sayuri sent him a smile of her own, the tears she held in to look brave falling as well.

'Anytime,'

* * *

**Oh, I know, I know. I hate prologues just as much as the other, but I know that they're very important to a story. Sorry, but it needed to be there. Now, let me clear up a few things before a searing hot flamer comes along and crushes my self esteem (That doesn't mean you guys need to hold back though!)**

**1. _Sayuri's decision to leave with Naruto_ - She's already said multiple times before they left that she knew it was an impulsive decision, that she would probably regret it, but she's going with her instinct. She's too kind for her own good, I guess. Also, I understand that choosing a friend over your own family is incredibly stupid and has 0 chance of actually happening, but Sayuri simply doesn't want to grow up in such a environment. It's like running away from home, except she's running with someone.**

**2. _Sayuri's view on Naruto and their relationship_ - You read the first paragraph, right? So you know that Sayuri really wasn't sure of how she felt about just talking to Naruto, so strung up with his status in the village that she hid their friendship and now she's willing to run away from him? Let's just say that it's a change of character, something that Sayuri will continuously do throughout the story. **

**3. _What this story is about - _Sayuri and her adventures with Naruto, though don't be surprised if it's focused on Naruto a lot or if there is constant time skips. This is a crossover, obviously, where Sayuri and Naruto travel around and well... It's a Bleach crossover. It should be obvious what happens to them during their journey. Developments of characters and being able to see a different side of a few canon characters :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Sayuri rose her eyebrow in confusion, glancing at Naruto with an unimpressed look on her face. "Just... What do you think you're doing?" The 14 year old blonde stood in the middle of a rushing lake, shirtless with only boxers on while being completely drenched in water. He looked annoyed so Sayuri assumed that he had been at, whatever he was doing, for a while now.

Naruto hummed and looked around him, frowning at the water like it was the one to blame. "Trying to fish." He answered simply as he snapped his hand into the water once more, coming out empty handed. "... It isn't working out well for me..." He admitted with a sulk, sitting in the river, the waters now brushing against his bare chest. Sayuri sighed and shook her head, disappearing into the bushes they were camping in for a minute.

Naruto waited, looking as the fish swum around and away from him and while he wanted to reach out and snatch one, his arms were too tired to find the motivation. "Why were you using your hands?" Sayuri asked as she came out of the bushes with a relatively long stick. Naruto blinked as he stared at it, wondering why she had one, before he contemplated his answer.

"I was training." Naruto milked, watching Sayuri intently. The ash blonde girl squatted next to their supplies and and grabbed something from the bottom of the bag, a long, thin piece of string that she used to make a snare. Naruto grunted in confusion but stayed silent as he watched Sayuri work her intelligence. Without saying anything, Sayuri tied the string to the end of the long stick before she sat down and took one of her earrings out, twisting it to look like a hook before digging up a worm, attaching it to the hook before attaching that to the string and stick.

Naruto's eyes were flat as he realized what she had just crafted. "Is that... A fishing rod?" Sayuri nodded with a cheerful hum, smiling brightly and innocently while she did so. "Why didn't you tell me we could make fishing rods?!" Naruto exploded, thrashing his arms around in the water. The ashy blonde blinked before poking her tongue out, throwing Naruto into a fit.

"You wouldn't have made one even if I had told you too. You're way too stubborn." Naruto was about to say something but then decided against it, grumbling to himself as the fish swam to the recently dunked worm. Sayuri grinned as she flung the rod upwards, taking the fish with her. Naruto gawked as the size of the fish, how the hell did it even fit in the water?! Sayuri proudly slammed the fish into the ground and looked pointedly at Naruto, as if expecting something to be said.

Naruto just turned his head away, "Yeah, right! I can get a _way_ bigger fish than you!" Sayuri looked at him doubtfully, "I'll prove it!" Naruto declared, fired up as he dunked his head underwater and opened his eyes, swimming around and trying to search for a fish big enough to rival Sayuri's monster. Naruto popped his head up a few times for air before dunking his head under again. Sayuri watched from the surface, sitting next to the above-average sized fish beside her. She looked at it and sighed.

"Naruto can be such a dunce." She told her scaly dinner, watching as it flopped ferociously by her side. Without another word, Sayuri pierced her own hand through the eye of the fish, stopping it's movement completely. "Sorry," She murmured halfheartedly as she shook her hand to get off all of the excess fish on her hand before a giant shadow caught her attention and it was right in front of Naruto. Sayuri let out a curious noise before she climbed up the top of a large rock, watching as the fish's shadow became darker and more prominent, it's scaly back poking out of the water signifying it's growing size.

There were some gurgles and some air bubbles floating to the service before Naruto disappeared in the water and the fish continued on forward. Sayuri's face went flat as she realized that a fish had just swallowed Naruto. "Only he would allow such a thing to happen to him." She told herself, preparing to jump down and battle the fish for Naruto. She would have if the water hadn't been poisoned with blood and fish guts, Naruto emerging from the water while gagging to his hearts content.

"E-EEEEEEEEW!" He shrieked like he was a girl. Sayuri leaped from the rock and squatted at the edge of the river's bank, flicking away a fish gut. "That's the last time I get swallowed by a fish!" He looked so green that Sayuri had to restrain her giggles. The blonde flung a strange substance from his hair before crawling onto the river bank, right next to Sayuri.

"We're eating my fish tonight then?" Sayuri assumed innocently, smiling down at the fish-covered friend next to her. "What jutsu did you use anyway? You'd think the fish swallowed a bomb rather than human with... Decorations it made." Sayuri gestures to the fish insides surrounding them now, some of it splattered on the rock she was just sitting on.

Naruto grinned and reached for a towel, something Sayuri grabbed for him to save the stretch. **_"Kogane no kaze:__ Oshi."_**He said with the most pride ever. "It's a new one I made up, it's so cool!" He squealed while drying himself off with the towel. "Though it's a little messier than I had planned it to be." Sayuri have him a look that obviously questioned his sanity. Then, she shook her head and stood up.

"Thanks to your inability to catch a simple fish, we only get one tonight." Naruto sulked immediately, the towel over his head as he sat there poking mushrooms. It seemed being useless in the art of 'fishing' had bothered the blonde, though Sayuri could understand why. He was usually a natural at everything he did ninja-wise. The necessities for survival were the things he had trouble with, Sayuri was always there to back him up.

Sayuri heaved the dead fish onto her shoulder and began to trudge through the grass and bushes. "C'mon, Naruto! I need you to set up the tents." Naruto stood up happily, normal again and began to run after her. "Don't forget your clothes and our supplies." Naruto halted and lowered his head, grumbling as he returned to the beach to pick up their bag and his clothes before following her suit, trying to catch up to her.

Soon, they arrived at their campsite and Sayuri threw the fish on the ground, collecting some of the firewood from the corner of their campsite and setting it up accordingly, grabbing some dry grass around the area before. Naruto fiddled for the tent, flinging everything everywhere while making the poles bend in ways that they shouldn't have been. Sayuri tried to ignore the ruckus behind her as she searched for grass, but it eventually got on her nerves.

"Damn, Naruto!" She snapped, whipping her head around to see the blonde dunce stuck in between two poles that belonged on opposite sides of the tent. "Can you do _anything_ right?" Naruto sweat dropped and tried to imagine what he looked like in the current situation and grinned sheepishly, laughing like he was quite nervous about everything. Sayuri's face went flat again and she face palmed. "Let me light this fire and then I'll help you. Do something productive and try to cook the fish, will ya?" Naruto tried to salute, but ended up hitting a pole and sending the entire tent to the dirt.

There was a few seconds of silence as Sayuri looked at the tent in amazement. "...Sorry?" Sayuri's eye twitched at Naruto's poor excuse for an apology. She sighed and turned to the unlit firewood, touching it with her forefinger, setting the entire thing ablaze before she walked over to the tent and started working on the tent again. Naruto knew Sayuri wasn't entirely pissed off at her, she never truly was, though he reckoned she got annoyed with how much she had to do with the simplest things.

_I'll cook the best fish ever!_ Naruto mentally vowed, the fire burning in his eyes as he stabbed the fish with a thick, long stick that he found, putting it on the forked sticks standing on the opposite sides of the fire before he slowly turned the fish, hoping to cook it to perfection while he did so. Naruto's focus was intensely on the fish, but every now and then he glanced back to see Sayuri sorting out the poles and tent, looking distressed while she did so. Naruto looked back at the fish and sighed tiredly. _What's taking it so long? _He murmured before glancing at Sayuri again, seeing her begin to fix the tent up like it was counting. She would make a good wife, but that was assuming she would ever settle down.

He and Sayuri had been travelling around for a good 3 years, 5 if you counted the 2 years they were trained. He had quickly learned that, even though she was a civilian in Konoha, she was very willing to change that. She made an excellent ninja and Naruto was surprised to find out that she had a fire-type chakra. Their trainer was truly amazing, shaping prodigies in only 2 years. Naruto had discovered he was a wind-type and had even developed his own type of wind, surprising to him, Sayuri and even their trainer. It was known as **_Kogane no kaze_** or _**Golden Wind.** _True to it's name, the wind was indeed the color of gold and struck like it was the very thing itself, though it managed to stay as flexible and sharp as normal wind. Sayuri had excellent control over her fire-type chakra, inventing her very own **_Ash__ Style._**It was a complicated technique that took 2 years to merely get the hang of, and she was still practicing now. She could manipulate ash, somehow reversing it to it's former, fiery glory. Even now Naruto didn't understand the full extent on her power, but he knew that it was dangerous.

They had grown rather close, almost connected at the hip. They had gotten into their fair share of arguments, usually because of Naruto. Sayuri was quick to anger anyway, and she always nagged Naruto- which usually set him off. They had one fight that really affected both of them. Both were just angry at each other and both had gone a little too far...

_"I should have never left the village to travel with you! My grandparents, everyone was right about you all along!" She snarled, clenching her fist. Naruto flinched back, as if he was just psychically hit._

_"Naruto... I'm... I'm so sorry," Sayuri chocked out as she covered her own mouth with her dirt-covered hands. Naruto stood frozen in front of her, eyes wide before they narrowed at her. _

_"No you're not. You're just like the rest of them, except this time I actually trusted you!" _

It was pretty serious, though they both made up pretty quickly. Anyway, they learned things about each other that neither would've really guessed. Sayuri found out that Naruto could actually use his head, and when he did the strategies that he came up with could rival the Nara's while in return, Naruto found out that Sayuri was extremely adept in the art of shinobi, amazingly proficient in genjutsu. It was like tennis from there. Sayuri found out that Naruto had great chakra control, Naruto found out that Sayuri wasn't as kind as he had realized (She was a tease, bitchy and extremely snarky and sarcastic.)

Naruto smiled to himself and looked down at his feet. All in all, he was glad that the Konoha council had banished him and more importantly, that Sayuri joined him on his new journey. He was glad she was always going to be right beside him, as a friend and as a sister.

"_NARUTO!"_ Sayuri's shrill screamed snapped Naruto out of his thinking and made him look at the ashy blonde standing in front of him, looking like she could burst a vessel. Naruto let out a confused grunt before a burning aroma filled his nose and he looked down at the fish, eyes going as white and wide as saucers as he swung the burnt fish out of the fire.

"Uwaaaah~" Naruto cried out in as much surprise as Sayuri was when she had realized the blonde had failed such a simple task. "Damn, the fish..." Naruto hissed as he stupidly tried to blow on the fish, thinking that would reverse the charcoal color on it. Sayuri watched him try to fix it, even if he wasn't doing such a golden job, before she sighed and rubbed her forehead tiredly.

"Honestly." She groaned before looking to scold Naruto but his distressed opinion stopped her completely. He looked so torn that he had burnt the fish, Sayuri had to wonder why. It was just a fish, yeah it was their dinner, but he messed up like that all the time. She figured he was used to it by now. "...Naruto?" She called out hesitantly, flicking her tight ringlet from her shoulder because it started to tickle her.

Naruto huffed before he swung the fish around weakly. "I was hoping to get this fish right, so I didn't disappoint you, Sayu-chan." Sayuri's eyes widened. "I messed up a lot today, and cleaning up my mess must be tiring so I figured if I cooked this fish to right for once, you'd..." Naruto's eyes widened when the fish was ripped from his grip and Sayuri tore into it with her teeth, chewing idly as she spat out the small bones, gulping the charcoal fish.

She closed her eyes and smiled. "It's great, Naru-chan. Cooked to perfection, especially the insides." Naruto's eyes grew to the size of a chibi as they began to fill with tears. "Though the outsides were a little burnt." Sayuri was suddenly tackled into a hug, a wailing Naruto being the courtesy of it.

"Sayu-chan, you're so nice!" Sayuri huffed suddenly, rolling her eyes as she petted Naruto's spiky hair. "Lying about the fish... You must be some sort of angel!" Sayuri's eye twitched as she suddenly became uncomfortable so she began to push Naruto off of her, shoving the fish in his face when he went to dive at her again.

"Instead of taking my opinion for it, eat some yourself. Don't swallow any bones too," she said motherly before standing up and brushing her shorts. "I'm off to bed, we're leaving early tomorrow anyway. I need my sleep." Naruto looked at the sky. It was barely sunset, why would she go to sleep so early? What the the point of that?

"...Huh?" Naruto grunted. Sayuri brushed away the flap of a tent and looked at Naruto over her shoulder.

"I need more sleep than you, knucklehead. I'm not as hyperactive as you are, ya know." Naruto nodded. He understood that part but still, going to sleep so early barely made sense to him. Though there was always the fact that it didn't matter how early Sayuri went to sleep, she still demanded more in the morning. Naruto waved happily anyway.

"Goodnight, Sayu-chan!" The ashy blonde nodded before she disappeared into the tent. Naruto looked at the fish and took a hesitant bite out of it and chewed thoughtfully. "Hey... This isn't too bad!" He exclaimed happily, ravaging the fish as quickly as he good, making sure he spat out the bones between each bite, no matter how difficult it was. It was what Sayuri had asked him to do, so he'd carry it out without flaws.

Sayuri sighed from the inside of her tent when she heard the sound of Naruto hacking and coughing. The idiot swallowed some bones.


	3. Chapter 3

Sayuri jumped back in alarm, kunai at the ready as her eyes darted around the scene. An explosion had just been thrown at their camp site in the middle of her and Naruto's slumber and she hadn't had the time to check and see if Naruto was alright, but she hadn't doubted him before so why now? Sayuri tried to focus on any sort of sound, any sort of indication of where their attacked would be hiding. Stalking from the shadows? A head-on attack? You could never tell, but the smoke the explosion caused made it fairly obvious.

"Naruto?" Sayuri called our wearily, just to be sure. When he shouted back at her, Sayuri smiled in relief. Then, her sixth sense kicked in and she whirled around, colliding kunai with a puppet wearing a dusty red robe, the ends choppy ad the inside being blue. Sayuri's eyes narrowed in recognition of the puppets and she quickly disabled it, back flipping away. As she did so, more puppets emerged from the smoke and ganged up on her, but Sayuri was trained to hold her own against a fair few number of opponents and easily took them out with a few flips and kicks.

"_Akasuna no Sasori_, am I right?" Sayuri called out in the smoke as it began to clear away, revealing a hunched over figure with a cloth around his mouth. Sayuri gulped, the appearance of her opponent chilling her to the core, the puppets covering his flank not helping her situation any more. Sayuri shifted into a battle ready stance, nervously assessing her 100 opponents, excluding Sasori himself.

There was a low chuckle, "_Hai no fujin_. I wasn't aware that you were the Nine-tail's travelling companion." He said, his voice dangerous croaky and low. Everything about him screamed danger to Sayuri, and her inner coward was just begging her to retreat from the situation, but her logical side demanded a fight. Then what he said caught up with Sayuri and her stance stiffened with anger.

"Nine-tails? You're here for Naruto?" She then looked at the cloak he was wearing and her eyes widened. "Akatsuki!" She hissed out the name like it was poison to her tongue, sending Sasori a glare that could send dagger through him. Sasori just chuckled again before puppets flew towards her, all wielding different types of swords looking like they were made for torture. Sayuri responded as swiftly and quickly as she could, flipping and slashing at every puppet within reach and destroying then with a mere whip of her arm. An explosion went off not too far from them and Sayuri took a step in that direction, only to be halted by another herd of puppets. She destroyed them in the same manner, this time annoyed.

"Are you going to be original when directing your puppets, _Akasuna no Sasori_?" Sayuri taunted, twirling her kunai effortlessly as she studied his body language for hints of an attack, but his body was unnaturally still. It was frightening.

Sasori shuffled forward, his cape moving to reveal a tail that resembled that of a scorpion's. "I was simply testing how you would fair against some petty wooden bodies. You've done well to impress me so far, taking out my puppets without even proving your namesake." Sayuri's breath hitched when he fired some poles at her. Sayuri done quick to dispose of them, even narrowly back flipping out of the way of some poison needles hidden within the wooden bullets.

"That was close," Sasori said with a taunting tone. "But can you dodge this?" The cloth surrounding his mouth flew off and his mouth cracked open unnaturally, which actually tipped Sayuri off. There was a small clicking sound and Sayuri immediately fired up on her hand signs, her instincts screaming that she would not be able to counter the upcoming attack. Just as needles, presumably poison, fired out of Sasori's mouth, Sayuri had just announced her jutsu.

**"Fire Style: Melting Point!" ** Sayuri blew out a powerful ball of fire, effectively devouring the needles. It nearly nicked Sasori and he was forced to crawl back to avoid the volcanic fire, watching as when it disappeared his needles were gone without a trace. Her fire had actually reached the point where it could melt his needles- Sasori would have to change that in the future.

"You're not touching Naruto!" Sayuri yelled as she flipped into the air, her fist encased in fire. Sasori didn't move and shot his scorpion tail towards Sayuri, prepared to let gravity finish things for him when she surprised him again with her fast thinking and agility. Sayuri narrowly dodged his tail and gripped onto everything but the poison-coated tip, melting the point right off of the puppet. Inside of the puppet, Sasori's smirk grew wide. An interesting opponent Sayuri was proving to be, disabling one of his favorite puppets so simply. Ultimately, the fight hadn't been going on for long and she had already stopped Hiruko, Sasori was more than impressed. Realizing that she wasn't going to be stopped by his poison covered weapons, Sasori retreated from Hiruko just as Sayuri slammed her hot fists into Hiruko's back, melting a giant hole in him.

Sayuri flipped back from the puppet and at the man with his head covered with a black hood. "Really, you've made Hiruko seem pathetic." His voice was far more smooth and charming now that he was outside of Hiruko. Sayuri flexed her fingers tauntingly as he slowly reached for his hood. "_Hai no Fujin_ truly isn't someone you want to encounter. That fire of yours is no joke, right?"

He took off the hood to reveal a head of shaggy red hair and calm, almost soothing brown eyes on a teen body, something that managed to shock Sayuri the most. With how long the rumors of _Akasuna no Sasori_ she was almost certain he would be in his late thirties. "We've only been dueling for a few minutes, and you've managed to push me out of Hiruko. Truly impressive..." Sayuri scanned the real Sasori and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Just like Hiruko, he was unnaturally stiff and still. What could that mean?

"Why do the Akatsuki want Naruto? Or the tailed-beast in general?" Sayuri asked with authority clear in her voice. News about missing tailed-beast holders had managed to reach their ears and for weeks Sayuri had been forced into a situation where she would have to ensure Naruto that he wasn't going to get hurt- she was wrong, apparently. It was an inevitable fate, one that they shared since their departure from the Leaf.

Sasori sighed. "I'm afraid that's none of your business, _Hai no Fujin._" And then he grabbed out a scroll, unrolling it with his thumb to reveal the number '3'. "What I can tell you is... That you'll be six feet underground in a matter of seconds. No one has lived to tell the tale of my favorite puppet." Sayuri settled into a fighting stance and watched alarmed as the scroll disappeared in a cloud of smoke and an all too familiar face greeted Sayuri, just in puppet form.

"Th-That's the Third Kazekage!" Sayuri exclaimed in shock, remembering him from her History lessons in the Leaf village. They were always keen to tell everyone about the Kage's of the world and _that puppet_ was definitely the missing Kage from years ago. Sayuri moved his arms and the puppet curled itself around him, poised to attack at any moment.

"Don't struggle and I'll consider making you a puppet as well." The third Kazekage's jaw slacked open and his famous iron sand started to flow out tauntingly. "You'll surely be one of my strongest puppets." Sasori said as if it was some sort of compliment. Sayuri swallowed her nervousness at the fact that Sasori had managed to preserve the third Kazekage's fearsome ability.

"Bring it on, _Akasuna no Sasori_! There's no way I'm letting you take Naruto!"

* * *

Naruto cut through the bodies of clay with his **Golden Wind: Slash** and was becoming increasingly annoyed when they only grew in numbers. He was only so patient, especially with the nine tails giving him a head ache, begging to be let out. "Stop struggling, un!" The blonde with the over grown bang on the clay bird shouted at Naruto, which managed to tick him off.

"Stop trying to blow me up, **un**!" Naruto mimicked, slashing the clay until it would do no damage if it were to blow up. "And stop flying! That's so unfair!" Naruto shouted in distress, eyes flaring with anger as the man/woman stayed in midair with a dragon that could blow up at any given moment. It really wasn't fair.

"Who said this fight was going to be fair, Nine-tails?" The man screamed from above. Naruto huffed childishly.

"Then I'll make you come down!" The man laughed and began to taunt Naruto, which seemed to be working. Though Naruto had different plans, **"Golden Wind Style: Pull!" **It was another one of his new jutsu's. The air picked up around Naruto, creating a little tornado as it's invisibility slowly revealed a golden tint to it. The man looked down at Naruto confused and alert.

Naruto extended his hand towards the dragon and the golden wind appeared to disperse, which threw his enemy into a fit of laughter. "HA! You're just a puny kid, so just give up alre-" The golden wind appeared around him, interrupting his insults, and he cursed when a forced pulled him towards Naruto. If he was going to blow up the dragon, him and Naruto would go down together, and that wasn't how it worked. Beat the enemy to near-death so the tailed beast could be extracted, that was the deal. What went on in-between _used_ to be a mystery until now.

The man jumped off the bird, sending it twirling into a far away try and watched mesmerized at the explosion. It was truly beautiful in his opinion. "Okay, brat, I'm off of the dragon! But that doesn't mean you have a chance against me, un!"They both prepared to attack when a club of iron sand landed between them both, sending both blonde's into a screaming fanatic.

Then, the man calmed down. "That's my man Sasori's main attack. Your girl friend is done for, yeah." Naruto looked at the iron sand and then at the smug man, not even bothering to deny their relationship. "The name's Deidara. Pleasure to capture you, hmm."

Deidara then proceeded to throw little sculptures of small animals like spiders and birds, finishing off the combo of bombs with some snakes now and then. Naruto blew them up with **Golden Wing Style: Slash** fairly easily, before they came close enough to injure. Soon it became a game of tennis- boring tennis, where the moves were almost scripted. Both blonde's were ticked off by this.

"STOP IT!" They both screamed at each other, "No, you stop it! JUST LET ME KILL YOU ALREADY!" Both shrieked at each other before a heat wave distracted their scream session and both fell to their knees, sweating a river. "T-The hell, yeah?!" Deidara questioned naively as he wiped some sweat from his forehead. "Where did this random heat wave come from? My hand's can't even eat any clay!" Naruto smirked cockily as he steadily got to his feet, wobbling a few times.

"T-That's _my_ girl Sayuri's main attack. Your partner is the one whose done for, Deidara. She the best fire user I know, able to manipulate any type of fire- including ash. She's the only fire user I know who can make her fire reach melting point. Sayuri is _Hai no Fujin_- The lady of ash! Like hell she's going to go done because of some petty iron sand." Naruto's eyes turned red, the pupil going cat-like. "That's goes for me too, ya know! Naruto Uzumaki, _Tamer of the Golden Wind!_ I'm not going down without a fight!"

Deidara blinked in shock before he grinned happily. "Good, brat. I'm going to enjoy blowing you up."

* * *

Sayuri cracked her eyes open before clenching them shut again, her ember eyes still too sensitive to the light. With a few moments of stiffness, she re-opened them and allowed them to adjust to her surroundings and what a surprise awaited her. She was laying on the cold hard ground, the stones poking through her skin with two homeless children surrounding her, looking like they were just skeletons wearing a thin layer of skin as clothing. They were starving and with the environment they were apparently in at the moment, it wasn't surprising. That was the problem though. _She wasn't where she closed her eyes._

"Is she alive?"

"She looks pretty meaty."

"If she's dead, could we eat her?"

"EW! No matter how hungry I am, I'll never eat someone."

"We'll die if we don't find anything else to eat, idiot!"

Sayuri observed the duo of children, especially the loudmouth with spiky, long black hair and a couple of scars decorating his body. He was covered in blood as well, while his female companion was clear of blood but had a fair share of bruises and torn rags hanging off of her malnourished body. They stopped arguing when the female hushed her friend, eyeing Sayuri intensely.

"You woke her up, idiot!" The male hissed at the female, nudging her roughly with his foot. The female shot him a nasty look before she squatted down in front of Sayuri, ignoring her friend. She then reached out and put her hands on Sayuri's apparent severe wounds, which had just caught her attention just then. Sayuri closed her eyes and hitched her breath, controlling those groans of pain that were just so tempting to release. As she did this, an explosion and the sound of wood clicking appeared in her mind, sending a shrill feeling of panic coursing through her body.

"Don't move, please." The girl whispered when Sayuri felt herself beginning to bolt up in fear. "I'm performing some surgery- I think." She explained hesitantly, almost as if she wasn't entirely sure what she was doing, but it didn't bother Sayuri. She was being helped and nothing was more rewarding than that. Sayuri nodded slightly as she felt the wounds on her body ease in their screaming, but it wasn't gone completely and the thought of moving still felt like fire against her skin.

The boy scoffed. "Are you still tryna act like a nurse? Here in Zaraki, you fight. Not heal." He scolded her, slamming his fist against her skull to prove a point. "Idiot!" The girl held her head in pain and frown, glaring up at the male.

"That was unnecessary! Besides, I want to be a lover, not a fighter!"

"That kind of thinking gets you killed in this district, idiot!"

"Not if I can heal myself!"

Sayuri cracked a smile. They were arguing and she had bet they had gotten into a couple of fights before, but she felt like that was a familiar relationship. She felt like she had once acted like that with someone, but the image was faint and she felt dread when she tried to think about... Anything. "Thank you," She finally said after a few moments of contemplating interrupting their argument. "For healing me."

The girl and boy stopped arguing and blinked before the girl smiled at Sayuri, while the boy sent her a suspicious glare. "You're welcome, miss! Do you have a name?" The boy rolled his eyes, as if having a name was something that was impossible to believe. Sayuri frowned and closed her eyes, thinking very hard about that question. Why was it so hard to answer?

The boy, realizing her frustration, interrupted. "Don't worry 'bout it. Most souls don't remember their names. Takes a while to get used to." He scratched his knotty black hair carelessly before his eyes blazed. "I sense someone comin'! Oi, let me fight this time!" The boy declared happily, looking excitedly towards the girl, who rolled her eyes at his actions.

"Go ahead, you barbarian. Meet me back at the hut, I'll heal your injuries then."

He took off running, laughing as he did so. "LIKE YOU'LL NEED TO!"

The girl rolled her eyes before she glanced at Sayuri. "You appeared out of no where, so I'm assuming you're a new soul."

"New soul?" Sayuri repeated softly, blinking. "Soul? I'm dead then." She thought out loud, voice blank as she said so. The girl nodded and continued to hover her hands over Sayuri's body.

"Mhm." she hummed, unblinking. "I've never heard of a soul arriving here half-dead like you are though. Usually you come here as good as new. Never injured." Sayuri cracked a grin,

"I'm special then."

"Dangerous, more like it." The girl corrected sadly. "And unlucky. You're in the 80th District up the North Side, Zaraki. This is the worst one there is in the Soul Society- heaven." Sayuri's grin dropped and she took the time to look around again. Then, she nodded, agreeing with the girl's opinion of the place. _Heaven? This is no heaven._ Sayuri thought as she looked around. It was a barren land, only a make-shift hut among some ruined barbwire fence pieces.

Sayuri sighed. "Then it's a good thing you were here with your friend, right?" The girl tilted her head. "So, I was lucky and unlucky at the same time. Strange, isn't it?" The girl looked down at Sayuri's wounds and continued to heal them.

"You're strange. So motivated and grateful, I can tell. You... You don't belong among here. Surrounded by stupid barbarians who fight for a living, when peace could be a less taxing solution. I bet, miss, if you were to arrive in another district, you would've been a successful soul." She said in a soft voice as she probably thought about her new "home" since her death. Speaking of death, she seemed awfully young for a soul. How had she died?

"What about you? You seem to stand out against your friend, I'd hate to imagine you around anyone else. You two ever considered running away from here?" The girl snapped her head from Sayuri's wounds with an outraged expression, making Sayuri feel stupid for even considering the idea.

"Run away? We're 79 districts away from a good life! Not to mention we're the 'worst type of soul'. Me and Barbarian will get kicked out for not being civilized in minutes!" Sayuri closed her eyes and apologized sincerely. "No, I'm sorry too, miss."

Sayuri sighed anyway before her eyes opened slowly, a sly look in them. "Sayuri."

"Hm?"

"My name... Is Sayuri."


	4. Chapter 4

Sayuri just sighed when **Yaban (Savage) **barged into the house, covered in bruises, blood and fresh, deep cuts. Tami ran over to him and slapped the dufus well under his head, beginning yet another scolding about not getting into fights. This, of course, was the beginning of another fight except this time there was something else in the man of the house's eyes. He was trembling and Sayuri was experienced enough to know it was from excitement and fear, something that was hard for him to experience ever since he stole the zanpakuto from the shinigami he had killed a few days after Sayuri's arrival.

"Yaban, what adventures did you experience today?" Tami asked as Sayuri whirled around, three plates scolding hot with three pigs laying on the porcelain circles, her other hand balancing some drinks on them. She had found them a couple of days ago and had been itching to use them for some dinner, though food was scarce in their district. If those wild boars hadn't barged through their district, they'd be starving yet again. Yaban looked at her and the food and went to jump for them, had Tami not restrained him.

"Don't more, you barbarian! I haven't healed you yet." Tami scolded as she pulled on his spiky black hair, making the young boy yelp in pain. "Man, who'd you fight today? These wounds are _way_ too serious." Yaban started to tremble again and Sayuri raised her eyebrow as she slid the plates and cups of tea onto the table in front of the people about to devour them.

Yaban rubbed his hands together and rolled his shoulders around as Tami healed them. "It was this woman, Kenpachi Yachiru." Immediately after hearing that name, Sayuri's eyes widened in fear and amazement. She knew who that was, everyone did. She was the captain of the Eleventh Division and was said to be a brute, dangerous in combat.

Yaban nodded at everyone's expression and ravaged his food like the savage he was nicknamed after. He swallowed and Tami ate some before she continued to tend to his wounds.

"Yeah way! I saw her... And I fought her." Yaban's eyes widened again, the trembling never seizing. "And... And I lost to her." Sayuri's eyes softened as she saw the pure fear in his eyes.

_Yaban..._ Sayuri though before she flinched back with Tami pegged him over the head with her fist, eyes as wide as saucers as she lectures her friend.

"THEN DON'T ENGAGE IN COMBAT WITH A CAPTAIN, DUMB ASS! YOU COULD'VE DIED!" She cried out. "YOU DON'T EVEN STAND A CHANCE AGAINST A FREAKING CAPTAIN, DON'T ACT ALL HIGH AND MIGHTY EVER AGAIN!"

Yaban looked down at his hands and then glanced at the zanpakuto resting by the make-shift door. "I hit her." He announced, silencing the entire house and probably the district. "I cut her. I'm pretty sure I scarred her too." There was an eerie silence as Sayuri's eyes widened even more with each passing second. The silence was broke when Tami slammed Yaban's head into the table, looking terrified as she did so.

"Don't make up such things, barbarian! Do you know how much trouble you'd be in if you had actually scarred a damn captain? LIAR!" But he wasn't lying, and Sayuri could tell but seeing how she was merely just a housewife, she stayed silent and ate her dinner, glancing at the pair as they argued about the truth of the story. She enjoyed the children's company, she really loved it and she had grown quite attached to them as well, but she knew there was something else out there for her. The constant nightmares had kept that ambition clear. As soon as they had toughened up a whole lot, the household was going to enter the Gotei 13 as shinigami.

It was hard to convince Yaban but he had agreed nonetheless. With a few conditions.

Sayuri had conversed with her zanpakuto multiple times too and they were on fair conditions, but she still hadn't found out her name. Something about needing a strong ambition and reason. Then there was the plaguing memories that haunted her every night, about an un-named blond kid with ocean eyes and hair kissed by the sun. Sayuri may have been feeling warm during her dream, remembering her time alive, but the idea of him not being around always through her into a wonky emotional state.

"Thanks for the food, Sayuri." Yaban said as she scrapped the last bits into his mouth with his hands, making sure he got every last bit of it. He grinned at Sayuri when he noticed he had received her attention. "Dunno what we'd do without you!" Tami nodded in agreement as she gulped down the last drop of tea.

"Yeah, the barbarian's right, Riri-chan! Thank you, a whole lot too!" Sayuri smiled and bowed her head. "Man, your still not talking? Why not?" Sayuri just collected their plates with a small smile and threw them outside their barbwire barrier, something she had spent a long time fixing. They didn't have enough water to waste on washing dishes, so they would have to go for good. Until they had a better life at least.

"Riri-chan," Tami whispered when Sayuri reentered the house. Sayuri hadn't spoken for a couple of years, basically turning mute ever since her memories had started to catch up with her. Yaban and Tami tried hard to get their nearly-guardian talk, but it never worked. No matter how hard they annoyed her, she never spoke a word and barely made any sort of noise. Tami was still slowly attempting to heal Yaban's injuries, though she noticed there were a little mild considering his opponent (Maybe she had healed him?) and Yaban was yawning. "We'll get ya to talk. Just wait for it." Sayuri bowed her head again and disappeared into their shared bedroom.

As soon as she was gone, Tami sighed. "I bet it's those memories. They keep on catching up with her, she hasn't been getting any sleep. You can tell." Yaban looked pretty shocked about that and Tami rolled her eyes. "Of course you wouldn't know, always so caught up with your damn fights. She's been fading lately, literally. Like an actual soul is suppose to fade. It's worrying."

Yaban cleared his throat. "The only change I've noticed is her zanpakuto." Tami's eyes widened and Yaban grinned proudly. "Yeah, she's got a zanpakuto. Goes to sleep hugging the thing like a child. It's beyond me how it doesn't cut her." Tami shook her head and rubbed her forehead annoyed, smudging some blood on there too. Wordlessly, she ripped a piece of her clothing and wet it, beginning to clean Yaban's wounds.

"Barbarian," She murmured worriedly. "Will... Uh, with her new zanpakuto... D-Do you think that Riri-chan will leave us soon?" Yaban went to move fast but his wounds restricted him and he ended up hissing in pain. Tami eased his pain and continued to heal him, pouring her spiritual energy in his wounds to heall them more efficiently and faster than they normally would. Kenpachi Yachiru did quite a number on him.

Yaban calmed his breathing and shook his head. "She wont. Sayuri'll only leave if we were to die."

"What if we do?"

"Shut up, Tami! Why do you think like that anyway, you idiot?!"

Tami shrugged, "We're in the Zaraki district. The most dangerous district out there... It's a wonder how we've survived so long." Yaban shook his head rapidly.

"Me, you and Sayuri will be alright. We didn't come to the afterlife just to die again."

Tami looked down. "Yeah... That's right."

* * *

_Sayuri searched the dark abyss with a terrified look on her face. The dark scared her, it reminded her of the unfaithful day of her and the blond kid's death. _

**_'Call my name...'_**_ A deep voice echoed from all around her, making Sayuri tense as her guard went up. **'You know it, it's at the tip of your tongue.'** Sayuri had been through this dream so much times, she knew better than to naively deny that she knew this strangers name when she really didn't. She gulped and closed her eyes, aiming to sit down. She couldn't however, due to the ground disappearing right beneath her. _

_Sayuri naturally let out a scream put stopped herself quickly when she saw a distorted reflection of herself. "You're... Me." Sayuri whispered as the wind howled in her ears, blocking out whatever her distorted image was saying. "What was that?"_

_Her mouth moved again and Sayuri tried to fly towards the image, only for it's calm face to morph into something with empty, black sockets where her eyes should have been and a face incredibly cracked and wrinkled, mouth open as a black ooze fell out of it. **"PATHETIC! ABSOLUTELY USELESS! DIE! DIE! DIE!"**_

_Sayuri immediately tried to retreat but she backed up against a tree instead. "What the..." She murmured, the sense of familiarity filling her as she stared at the weeping willow she was taking shade under. "This meeting is not like the rest." Sayuri concluded as she stood to her feet, surprised when she could feel everything. The sun kissing her skin gently, the glades of grass tickling her dirty feet. Sayuri traveled around the trunk and jumped back when she saw two children playing gleefully._

_**"Sayu-chan~"** The blond child whined as he chased 'Sayu-chan'.** "Why are you so fast? You aren't even training to become a ninja!"** Sayu-chan giggled and turned around and began to run backwards as she answered him with a witty, playfully insulting comeback._

_**"And this is coming from the so-called future Hokage! C'mon... Catch up!"** She had shouted his name but it failed to reach Sayuri's ears. Frustrated, Sayuri screamed, but she wasn't screaming at the two children but rather a pregnant woman, who flinched back in utter surprise. Sayuri blinked and began to apologize but the woman brushed her off and started to run away, screaming at her two twin children to get away from her. Sayuri tried to apologize once more and would have if the scene didn't change drastically._

_It was a barren land formed by a huge crater. There were three people opposite to the blond kid and... "That's me. Again?" Sayuri whispered to herself. She was in horrible shape, like the blonde kid beside her. The four presumed enemies looked pretty bad themselves, the one with a long blonde bang missing his pair of arms, lying on the ground as blood pooled around him and underneath the pile of a red-haired puppet. There was a blue-skinned humanoid shark with a large, shark-skin sword covered with a contrasting red liquid on him. _

_**"This jinchuuriki... Is rather... Persistent, isn't he, **__**Itachi?"** He huffed before grinning. **"But he'll run out of chakra soon. Facing Deidara and myself has to have drained nearly all of his energy. The fox hasn't even come to assist him either..."** The emotionless raven beside him was blankly staring at Sayuri with his left eye bleeding and his right eye a plain onyx, almost empty. _

**_"This battle has dragged on long enough. Nine-tails, you don't stand a chance anymore. Turn yourself in."_**_ The blond shook his head and weakly stood from the ground, gaining assistance from past-Sayuri. He tried to regain his fighting stance but it was wobbly and if past-Sayuri hadn't been there, he would have collapsed to the ground. He regained his center of gravity and sent a harsh glare at the opponent with red eyes. _

**_ "There's no way you're getting Kurama, or Sayu-chan for that matter!" _**_Past-Sayuri sent a firm nod in their direction, jumping away from the blond man as a cloak of red chakra enclosed his body, morphing him into a fox with 8 tails sprouting from his behind. Sayuri's hands gathered with fire and the ashes surrounding them sparkled at the same time as the fox's eyes did, and just as action was about to take place Sayuri was no longer there. _

_There was a soft caw of a crow that shifted Sayuri's landscape once more and she was among dead bodies, each of them sporting a white and red fan on the back of their shirts. Itachi stood over them, the crow perched on his shoulder. **'My name...'**_

_"Y-You're Itachi!" Sayuri shouted in alarm before she directed her attention to the pile of bodies on the floor. "And... And you did this to these people, didn't you? Killed them all!" Itachi paid no mind to them and stepped on the person lying on top, even going as far as sitting on that person._

**_'That is my name, yes, but it's not.'_**_ Sayuri narrowed her eyes in confusion. **'As of now, I have two names and one of them is very important to your future.'**_

_Sayuri mauled over everything before her eyes widened at the conclusion she eventually came to. "My murderer... Is my zanpakuto?"_

* * *

As soon as Yaban stepped out of his room, Tami was in his face, tears streaming down her face. "B-Barbarian!" She wailed, gently throwing herself around him for comfort. Yaban offered her the comfort but still looked around in confusion as to what was happening, anger clear on his face at the thought of who sent Tami to tears. He awkwardly rubbed her back and tried to soothe her crying so he could actually understand the answer she was going to give when he asked her the question.

"Whoa, what's wrong?" Tami settled her crying a little bit but the hiccups were becoming an increasing problem. "Who made you cry? I'll kill 'em!" Tami shook her head and tried to seize her hiccups before she started to explain things.

"S-She left a note, that was it! It wasn't even a note to explain things, it was just how to take care of ourselves! She didn't make a sound, she even woke up before me! She's gone, everything she owned is gone, she left us things to take care of ourselves, but she's not here to make it whole! She's gone, barbarian! Gone." Tami collapsed to the ground and her body racked with the sobs she tried to restrain in order to explain things to Yaban. The boy frowned and crouched to Tami's side.

"...Who's gone, Tami?" Yaban asked, voice quivering as the answer plagued his mind.

Tami looked up at his with tear filled eyes, hiccuping before she had answered. "Sayuri. Sayuri's left us."


	5. Chapter 5

"It isn't like that," The ash blonde grumbled as she stretched her upper torso, "And it certainly isn't any of _your_ business." Kasaki let his gaze linger on her for a while before he wiped the sweat off his bald head. He had a serious look on his face and had a black mustache, wearing a white jacket with a collar up to his neck. His sour friend moved into another stretch, bending her back backwards until her head touched the floor.

"But what if it is? I can't allow something to happen to you, it'll be far to taxing on my mental state." She shrugged and Kasaki found himself sighing. She always did that- completely shut him out when they didn't agree on something. "Okay, I'll back off, but you've got to promise me that you'll watch out for him." She stopped stretching temporarily and rolled her eyes, folding back into a normal pose as she contemplated her answer. Kasaki noticed and huffed, "Please." He added on grudgingly.

She was reeled in almost immediately. Kasaki was serious and rather prideful and rarely used manners, unless talking to someone higher up. She was equal to him in rank. "... I promise... Even though I don't understand why you're so stingy about my lieutenant. He's harmless." Kasaki shrugged, unwilling to share his suspicions.

"It would be wrong of me to speak ill of him..." He murmured, which gained an annoyed scoff from his friend beside him. She folded herself in another position, making sure the annoyance was rather clear on her face.

"You'll start calling Captain Hirako is a spy soon, I bet." Kasaki just stood up in response, not prepared to hear her defend someone who didn't deserve any respect. He didn't know why, but he felt like trust shouldn't be given to Lieutenant Aizen and he was going to stick with that belief, though he only planned on telling his best friend about his suspicions.

"See you, Takada." She sighed once more and sat normally, wiping away the sweat on her forehead.

"It's Sayuri to you, Heizō." The bald man simply shrugged and walked away, leaving Sayuri to bend her body like she was a human pretzel. Now she was left in the silence, where thoughts plagued her like a nightmare while she was conscious. She hated being alone, but she didn't really like the presence of others either, especially the loud and the annoying. They managed to tick her off the most.

**'No need for such sour thoughts, Sayuri. It's affecting your inner world.'** At the familiar, smooth voice of her murderer, a small smile managed to grace Sayuri's face. He had told her everything she had wanted to know, seeing as he had remembered everything from his human life. Now, being her zanpakuto, if she asked for information (That wasn't his name) he was obliged to give it to her straight... So she just about knew everything important about him and herself, even.

"Don't be selfish now, Itachi." Sayuri mumbled, knowing he could hear it loud and clear. "I bet your home is perfect now that I'm thinking so darkly." There was a little scoff, which was as close as he would come to laughing around her. Sayuri smiled gently before she flopped on the wooden floors, thinking about the information Kasaki had recently given her. The lieutenant of squad 5, Sosuke Aizen, had bad intentions? The idea made her want to vomit. He was the nicest person she had encountered in a while... But that's what made him all the more suspicious. She wouldn't deny it, she felt something fishy about Aizen as well- ninja instincts.

Sayuri rolled her shoulder around as it had started to ache, thinking about everything that popped up in her head, Yaban and Tami being reoccurring. She missed them, man did she miss them, but she couldn't control her powers and while Yaban would've been able to survive her spiritual energy, she knew that Tami would've been taken down just from a little pressure. She didn't even want to think about losing someone else so important to her.

**'On the bright side, you aren't the only seated officer who thinks Aizen is suspicious. Kasaki-san is more perceptive than I had originally given him credit for.' **Itachi voiced echoed in her mind which only caused Sayuri to roll her eyes again. She knew he wasn't as smart as she and Itachi were but Kasaki wasn't an idiot, he was third seat of the 9th division for a reason.

"Now you're just being mean." She told him before pushing herself to her feet and trying to ease the pain in her muscles with some simple healing kido that she never finished learning about. Sayuri started to wipe herself down before she went towards the bathroom, mentally warding Itachi off even if she was aware that he wasn't like that. He always took it upon himself to polish some techniques when she went to the bathroom to shower or other stuff. The shower was just to remove her unpleasant stench so it wasn't long. Sadly, you still had the ability to stink even as a soul.

**'Are you going to your office now?' **Sayuri nodded, rubbing her forehead in advance. The headache was already starting to form... **'Well, I don't know for sure but when you were alive, your companion was much more energetic than your squad-mates.' **Sayuri's stomach bubbled up with excitement. Another piece of information on that blonde boy, the boy that Itachi could never actually pin a name on. She knew that a name would instantly give the memories to her, but she could never remember the special word that would kill so much of her curiosity. Sayuri sighed anyway and began to make her way to her office, living in the 5th barracks already.

Of course, the sound of things crashing and shouting was what was echoing in the entire Soul Society, most likely. Sayuri almost felt like turning away and going back to her house, but she couldn't neglect her duties. No matter how much she hated her captain's companion most of the time- they fought more than Sui Feng hated Captain Urahara. Itachi urged her to continue moving and Sayuri begrudgingly followed his oh-so-wise advice. When she entered the office, a shoe was flying at her head, which she dodged.

"Captain," She said effortlessly, not even bothering to over power Hiyori's angry voice. Apparently her captain had declared an unseated recruit his 'first love' and Sayuri knew how much Hiyori hated when he did that, especially considering he had never done that to her. Plus, her captain was pulling faces at her... Actually, he didn't have to do much to get a sandal to the face. Hiyori didn't even have patience, she just blew up whenever she wanted to.

Her captain attempted to look up even as Hiyori pulled on his eyelids. "Ah, Sayuri! My first love!" The new recruit looked at Sayuri, annoyed that she was now forgotten about. It happened so constantly that Sayuri wasn't bothered by it. "What brings you here?" Aizen was watching in the background, pulling his amused facade on so flawlessly that Sayuri doubted her beliefs about him for a moment.

"Apart from being the squads third seat, paperwork." Sayuri responded casually, taking the folder of paper from the inside of her shihakusho, waving it around to show it needed attention. "It's done, airhead." Hiyori seemed pleased for the splittest second with the nickname before it disappeared and she was slapping Shinji with her sandal again.

"DO YOUR OWN PAPERWORK, YOU ASSHOLE!" There was no respect shown from the underling, which gave Sayuri a headache. Her voice knew no volumes, only climbing higher as their fights continued.

Aizen strolled forward with the intentions of taking the paperwork from Sayuri, but she tensed and backed off immediately. "Captain Hirako is a little busy at the moment, I'll take it to his office. Thank you, Takada-san." He said with a pleasant smile on his face but Sayuri didn't give up the paperwork, feeling Itachi preparing mentally. She told him to cut it out.

"It's confident, Lieutenant." Sayuri said stiffly. "I can only give it to Captain Hirako." She said wearily, which certainly got Shinji's attention. Now, was his third seat... Nervous? He had known her for years on end and Sayuri was never nervous, always carefree and willing to do things (Although she was never enthusiastic about it). To be nervous, around Aizen no less, only enforced his suspicions about Aizen. Sayuri had this thing where her instincts were always right.

Aizen nodded, but something gleamed in his eyes. "Uh, I'll take those papers in now! Thanks, Sayuri-chan~" Shinji said perky, bouncing to Sayuri and throwing an arm over her shoulders, pulling a face that showed his upper teeth. Like usual. "I know how much you hate me wasting your time." Sayuri closed her eyes and shrugged off the arm, feeling so much safer with her captain there.

"Anything else you want me to do? Cover you again?" Shinji shook his head and opened his mouth to say something more, but Hiyori was on his shoulders, giving him a killer noggin.

"YOU LAZY TARD!"

"AHH, HIYORI, GET OFF OF ME!"

Sayuri blinked and waited for the commotion to ease up. "Y-You can leave no, Sayuri-chan! O-OW! I'LL TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING ELSE TODAY!" Sayuri didn't question anything, just bowed her head and left the barracks, not feeling so thrilled about getting a day off. It was rare, yeah, but it wasn't like she had friends to spend the day with. Maybe, Itachi and Kasaki, but that was as far as that went. Sayuri sighed and decided to pay the 9th division a small visit.

Sayuri could hear Itachi sigh. **'Mashiro is twice as loud...' **He grumbled and he was right, but Sayuri figured a little visit wouldn't hurt. Plus, she saw Kasaki like... An hour of two ago. She wouldn't be there long enough to get a severe headache. Sayuri passed around 4 divisions before she entered the loud barracks, hearing the lieutenants annoying antics immediately. **'I need some human aspirin already.' **Sayuri snorted- Itachi couldn't even get headaches. Not unless she got one, though that was rare.

Sayuri sighed loudly as she entered the building, nodding to the underlings who basically kissed the ground of the precious third seat, who wasn't even in their squad. Honestly, the logic of some people. Sayuri couldn't find him in his office so she went outside, seeing Kasaki help in restraining Captain Muguruma. Probably from attacking his eccentric, green-haired lieutenant, Mashiro. She did have a tendency to act like a child, Sayuri could easily admit to that.

"Heizō." Sayuri called as she entered. Most turned to her and nodded, Sayuri didn't visit everyday but she visited more than usual so she was a familiar face to everyone in the barracks. "Ah, Captain Muguruma. Kuna." It was basically protocol to acknowledge people higher up in rank, unfortunately for Sayuri. It was such a bother and sometimes she didn't even like the people she had to show respect to.

"Miss Flamey-o!" Mashiro greeted, bringing her annoyance onto the person who really couldn't tolerate it- she seemed to target them as friends the most. "Ah, you haven't visited it AGES! How are you?" Flamey-o, that was the worst nickname Sayuri had ever gotten since 'Hot-stuff'. Honestly, she'd prefer people stopped with the nicknames. She was fine being Sayuri or something normal.

"Kuna, stop with that horrendous nickname." And then she threw a tantrum, which lead to Kensei questioning why she was his lieutenant, which got an immature response, which restarted the scene that Sayuri interrupted by walking in.

Kasaki sighed as he restrained his captain. "Sorry, Takada. I'm a little busy right now." Sayuri shrugged.

"Sayuri, Heizō. Damn, don't make me beat it into you." Kasaki apologized but she knew he wasn't going to correct himself. To him, she'd be Takada for a while. "Well, see you." Sayuri murmured as she turned around and began to walk away, but someone had jumped on her back and prevented such a thing from happening.

"Ah, no~" Mashiro sung happily, squeezing Sayuri. "I wanna see your flames and stuff!" Kensei's eye began to twitch and it was obvious he was embarrassed with her behavior. "You know, the whole BOOM and WHOOSH and WAAAH!"

Sayuri blinked blankly. "With the way you're holding me, seeing my shikai wont be a challenge." Kasaki sweat dropped, as well as a few selected members of the barracks. Others were just worried for their annoying lieutenant and Kensei looked so pleased with what Sayuri had said that it was sad.

Mashiro pouted before a bright smile adorned her face. "As your superior, I demand you reveal your shikai!" Sayuri frowned deeply and Kasaki stepped forward, noticing it immediately. Sayuri was quite a reserved and carefree person, not having much of a personality. If she showed anything other than annoyance or indifference, he knew it wasn't a topic they should be on.

"Ah, lieutenant..." Kasaki called uneasily as he stepped forward. "Is that really such a bright idea? Besides, your not allowed to fight unless it's organized..."

Mashiro pouted before she grabbed the back of Sayuri's collar and jumped away, everyone following immediately. They were all worried, for both of the girls. Kensei was just plain pissed off at his lieutenants behavior. They were in the squad's training grounds before Sayuri could say 'no'. "Okay, we're training! So, show me, missy! I'm a lieutenant, so you gotta listen to me."

But she really was obliged to listen to a higher ups orders. Sayuri gulped and her hand edged towards her crimson zanpakuto hilt. "Kuna, I don't think this is-"

"NONSENSE! Now, lets go! I don't wanna force it out! C'mon, I bet it's so cool! Everyone's talking about your shikai, I wanna see it~!" The others were there in the blink of an eye, Kensei wanting to beat Mashiro to the ground, but everyone else restrained such actions. Though they did call out to Mashiro to stop what she was doing. She ignored them, not seeing the bigger picture.

Mashiro grabbed her zanpakuto and waved it wildly, but Sayuri knew that Mashiro was an expert with her zanpakuto. No one had ever seen her call upon her zanpakuto spirit, so she was sufficient enough without the extra help. It was quite terrifying actually.  
"I'm not going to." Sayuri continued to rebel, which made Mashiro whine and throw another tantrum over such a small matter. It was like ping pong from there, Mashiro whining and Sayuri rebelling until eventually, Mashiro attacked, whining while doing so.

"It's amazing how persistent you are, Kuna." Sayuri remarked with obvious anger in her tone.

"JUST SHOW ME YOUR SHIKAI, THIRD SEAT!"

"No!"

The game started again and Kensei had calmed down enough to think without his main thoughts being about killing Mashiro. "... Takada, it's just a glimpse."

"CAPTAIN MUGURUMA!" Everyone protested, but it seemed he was interested as well.

"As a captain, I'm allowing a spar. Only shikai's are to be revealed." Sayuri gulped and defended herself once more, with drawing her zanpakuto for the first time in weeks.

She could feel Itachi's worry from the sword. **'Are you sure about this?'**

Sayuri nodded, even if no one knew why she was. "I'm sure. She wont stop fighting until I show her..." People frowned as she talked to noone.

**'Alright then. Let's get this over and done with, okay? Then we'll go back to our house and sleep.'** Sayuri liked that idea a lot. Things had escalated far too quickly for her to catch up and to enjoy. With a deep breath, Sayuri glared up at Mashiro. She would be captain one day, and then no one could force her to do this again.

But it wasn't worth the danger and certainly not the consequences that followed. "I'm sorry," Sayuri simply announced before she disappeared in a quick flash step. She could hear Mashiro complaining loudly and Kensei demanding her head on a stake and she was glad they could easily forget about the events. It was better they lost interest in her before things got nasty.

**'Wise decision.'**

Sayuri rolled her eyes once more. "You were urging me to fight a couple of moments ago." Itachi chuckled but he didn't say any more. Nothing more was to be said- they were almost exposed, following the wishes of an annoying lieutenants and a smoking hot captain was definitely not worth it.

**"The world is cruel to things they don't understand.**

**If they found out you were a ninja as a human**

**...**

**Sayuri, I'm afraid that they'll kill you."**

_**"I'll never give them a chance."**_


	6. Chapter 6

**_So I started high school this year, which has taken up a lot of my time. No excuses though, right? This is going to be my first update in months and for that I apologize. Enjoy, though._**

**_Oh, and in reply to one of my reviews, Naruto is a soul. Sayuri just hasn't found him yet. Because I'm lazy, I'm skipping to the point where the series actually starts. _**

* * *

Sayuri stared blankly at Heizō's grave as she plucked another petal from the flowers she was supposed to put on his gravestone. She glanced at the petal-less flowers from the day before as she added another bunch of flowers next to them. She visited his grave everyday and added flowers next to his engraved name. She plucked the petals however, because Heizō didn't have hair so the flowers weren't allowed any either. Itachi buzzed in his sheath and Sayuri sighed.

"Is it that time already?" She asked him as she began to stand up. He didn't need to answer because Sayuri already knew. Aizen was probably going to do something that would subtly torture again. He was a nice captain and all (Though Sayuri would've been a better choice in her opinion) but he had a habit of making Sayuri do things that she felt uncomfortable with. Which, quite simply, was public appearances. Since half the captain's and lieutenant's disappeared and Heizō was killed in action, Sayuri neglected appearing in public. She did everything in her power to keep herself hidden from the public's eye.

Only fellow lieutenants and a few captains had seen her, seeing as it was compulsory to attend lieutenant meetings. In a few flash steps, Sayuri was safely in her office. Right on time, Hinamori knocked on her door ever so kind and meek. She was easy to manipulate though no one dared to try and use Hinamori for their own purposes. Not with her childhood best friend being the Captain of Division 10.

"Miss Takada, Captain Aizen wishes to see you." Her voice was soft and dreamlike from outside the paper door and it only made Sayuri want to sleep. Regardless of her wishes, Sayuri stood up and hummed- Hinamori should understand what that meant by now. True to her thoughts, Sayuri saw Hinamori leave her door giving her the time and space to walk next door to listen to another ridiculous need from Aizen. What was he going to make her do today?

Sayuri walked across the hall and opened Aizen's door, seeing Captain Ichimaru and him sharing a drink. Aizen gave Sayuri a warm smile, which Sayuri nodded to. "You needed me?" She asked as she began to walk closer. Ichimaru's ever lasting smirk widened ever so slightly and he looked at Aizen subtly. The messy haired captain smiled brightly and stood up, holding some paper work. Oh god, another delivery.

Aizen put the paper down however and gestured for Sayuri to take a seat next to Ichimaru. Sayuri did, hesitantly of course. "Hello, Captain Ichimaru." She greeted after seating herself.

"Hello dear." He greeted back with a sly undertone. Sayuri swallowed a lump in her throat- she felt like an ant in their presence. She wasn't safe. She needed to retreat. Retreat. _Retreat._

**_"Calm down, Sayuri!"_**Itachi spoke sternly. Sayuri closed her eyes and nodded slightly, listening to Itachi like his word was law. _**"Nothing's going to happen. You're perfectly safe."**_

Sayuri couldn't believe the amount of faith and trust she had in that man, especially considering he was the reason she was a soul in the first place. Sayuri looked at Aizen, locking eyes and making sure her eyes were hard. Should he consider trying anything, he was going to see that she wasn't going to bow down and let it happen. She was going to fight.

"I was looking through some records thing morning with Ichimaru here, Takada-chan." Aizen said as he sat down as well. "And I saw your records while I was doing so and my, my, my, its really a pleasure to have you on this squad." He was stalling. Why was he stalling? "Takada Sayuri, graduate from Shin'o after only one year. Fire type zanpakuto, extremely dangerous and only seen once. What's it called again? The name wasn't recorded... Was that because you didn't say its name?"

Sayuri tensed. No one had ever noticed that faithful day. She was simply using her abilities from her past life but everyone blamed it on Itachi. So far, no one had ever realized that Sayuri didn't say a name when she burned the hollows. Not until now. Why did he want to notice? Where the hell was Aizen playing at?! Sayuri clenched her jaw, "I don't know my zanpakuto's name." She admitted. It was partly true.

Aizen tilted his head, "But... According to these reports, you used a power that wasn't in any kido records. The only logical response would be your zanpkuto. So, lieutenant, how did you do it?"

Sayuri glanced at Ichimaru, who had started to chuckle under his breath. He noticed her panic in the situation, didn't he? "I don't know." Sayuri hissed through her teeth. How could she let this happen? Aizen stared into her eyes and Sayuri had never felt so exposed. It riled her up ferociously, enough for the fire to return to her eyes and make them gleam threateningly. Aizen was treading into dangerous territory.

_**"Sayuri..."**_Itachi said warily, **_"I really need you to keep yourself in check. The volcano is started to smoke up."_**Sayuri's eyes widened at his statement and she tried to control her temper. 'The Volcano' was literally a volcano in Sayuri's inner world- it represented the amount of control she had over her ninja abilities. If her emotions got out of control, Sayuri wouldn't be able to control the amount of fire she'd bring to the world. She had discovered this a few decades ago, when she set a tree on fire because a shinigami was talking bad about the runaways and the deceased, aka, Heizō.

Aizen hummed and picked up the paperwork again, "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable," He said with a little wheeze in his voice. Sayuri blinked as she realized an awful amount of spiritual power was being leaked from her. "I was simply curious. Forgive me."

Sayuri shook her head and cradled her head for a second before she stood up and took the paperwork. "I'm sorry too, Captain." She said tensely. "Where to?"

"Squad 11." Aizen answered her question about the paperwork. Sayuri nodded and left the room in a hurry, not feeling quite safe until she had left the entire barrack. She didn't even try to hide herself today, she needed to get out. Sayuri found herself standing in the middle of a bustling crowd of shinigami and it confused her for a moment. She could barely see! She only walked these paths at night time, when barely anyone was around so she didn't have this type of problem... At all.

Sayuri took the easiest and safest route of using the rooftops to travel. Jumping 6 entire barracks proved to be a work out which actually benefited Sayuri a lot. Now her midnight training session wouldn't be so long. Squad 11 was a rowdy division and it reminded her of what the fifth division was before. She wished now that it was too late that she had cherished those moments and made them worth something.

She had easily swerved through the fighting shinigami and walked towards the captain's office, but was interrupted by a small, pink haired child. Lieutenant of the division actually and she constantly bothered Sayuri which kind of reminded her of Tami. "Ah, Riri-chan!" She cheered using that affectionate nickname. Sayuri's heart stung. "You're just what Kenny needs! A lieutenant, Ken-chan! I found you a lieutenant!" Yachiru grabbed Sayuri's hand in a tight grip and dragged her towards a combat area, where the sounds of hurt and falling shinigami was echoing.

"Who's Ken?" Sayuri asked Yachiru. The little ball of energy started to giggle.

"He's the captain, of course! And everyone's worst nightmare." Yachiru said with the brightest smile. That did nothing to scare Sayuri at all. She had a pretty good grasp on what her worse nightmare was. Yachiru entered and jumped on the giant with the white haori's back, hanging over his shoulder and she whispered something to him.

The man gave a maniac's laugh and turned around, an act which knocked over his unseated officers. He didn't even look at Sayuri properly before he brought his jagged zanpakuto down on her head. She reacted quickly and countered with Itachi, enforcing chakra to her arms to help with his monstrosity of strength. The captain had spiky hair with bells on each spike, scars all over his body and an eye patch. He flaunted his scarred body as an act of intimidation, it was obvious. He chuckle stopped as soon as he looked Sayuri in the eyes.

His face dropped and he recoiled his zanpakuto, only to bring it down harder. He did this repeatedly as if he was throwing a tantrum, or taking his anger out on her. Yachiru looked a little bit surprised by this, because he wasn't actually trying to kill her. Just take something out on her. "I know you." He ground out after Sayuri had lost it and threw him back.

She narrowed my eyes. "Not much captains know me." It was almost defensive but it was true. Only captains who were there when she was a third seat actually knew and talked with her. He was new- well, as new as a captain could get in the past few decades and/or century.

"My name is Zaraki Kenpachi." He said as he ran at Sayuri once again. The other shinigami had left for medical attention or sat down to watch the fight. _Zaraki _Sayuri thought idly, memories of her past flashing back to her. _He's from Zaraki. Have we met before? Did Yaban steal from him before?_

Sayuri pointed her sword so the tip was up at the ceiling as he brought his sword down on her head once again. Sayuri managed to stop the small side with the tip of her sword, it was balancing perfectly. "I know you..." He said once again. Sayuri nodded and rolled to the side, a little amazed with the crater he created with his sword. "This is where you went?" He didn't sound too amused despite his insane chuckling.

Sayuri looked at him. Actually looked at him, took in all his features and her face hardened. His hair- it was a dead give away to who he was. That, and his insane grin hadn't changed one bit. He started to nod, "Yachiru, get off." She looked genuinely surprised by this. "I need to let off some steam. Get off."

She jumped off his back warily and sat next to Yumichika and Ikkaku, both who were cheering for Kenpachi. "You left us." He said once again, swinging for Sayuri's stomach. She jumped and balanced on top of his sword, listening to what he was saying. As she was literally perched right on his sword, he punched her. Man, he had a hell of a punch. Sayuri was engraved into the wall easily.

Sayuri coughed and spit the blood out on the floor and went to push herself out, but Kenpachi had forced her even further with his hand around her throat. "Only a note? It killed Tami. You were our family." He was absolutely feral. Sayuri felt the tears coming while the breath was leaving her.

"Where... Where is- Tami?" Sayuri managed to ask.

Kenpachi's eyes dulled just a little bit more. "She was murdered."

Sayuri's world shut down instantly. **_"Sayuri? Sayuri? Don't- you need to keep yourself calm, okay?"_**Itachi was calm, his voice was almost soothing despite his panic. The volcano had began to rumble and the smoke was clouding his inner world. **_"Sayuri, it wasn't your fault. You needed to leave otherwise both of them would've died! Sayuri.."_**

By now it was far to late. Sayuri's eyes had gained a far away look in them and Kenpachi narrowed his eyes. "Done already? So easy. We didn't need you." He whispered to her before he dropped her. Sayuri fell limp on the ground and Yachiru jumped on his back quickly.

"Is Riri-chan dead?" She asked confused as she peaked at the limp body. Kenpachi could've flinched at how she referred to Sayuri. "Gramps wont be happy that you killed a lieutenant..." Yachiru commented without being very sympathetic. Sayuri twitched and slowly started to rise and Kenpachi rolled his eyes.

He looked towards some unseated officers and pointed to Sayuri, "Take her to that useless division 4. I don't need that old man on my back for killing her or something." Two officers nodded.

"Yes, sir!" They chorused as they scurried towards Sayuri's slightly moving body. Just as Sayuri had gotten to her knees, they both reached for her arms to pull her up.

"Ow!" One shouted as the other screamed in pain. It rose Kenpachi's interest as he turned, the other officers along with Yumichika and Ikkaku running to check on them. One had a third degree burn on his hands while the other was trying to heal it, his finger tips smoking.

"Hm?" Kenpachi hummed in confusion as he looked at Sayuri, who had her fist burning, literally, into the floor. The entire room got heavier and most of the officers had fallen to the ground, suffocating. It was a shame for the burnt officers, who were suffocating and burning at the same time. It was impressive spiritual energy, especially considering it was obvious that Sayuri was holding back a significant amount.

Sayuri slowly got to her feet, all of her injuries gone leaving only some peach colored skin. It was very intriguing. Kenpachi edged towards her with the stride of a predator. "So you're not done, eh?" Kenpachi grabbed her by the shoulder and dangled her in front of him, studying her. "You shouldn't have left." He said with a chuckle. "You _really_ shouldn't have left."

"I had to do it." Sayuri said as she stared at her feet. "Staying would've killed Tami."

"_Leaving killed Tami_!" Kenpachi barked. Oh, he hated thinking about Tami. It sent him into this emotional spiral that he'd rather not be in. The fact that someone who he basically believed to have killed Tami was in front of him, breathing when she didn't deserve to- It made Kenpachi's blood boil. And not in a way like his hand was for touching Sayuri, but that didn't bother him. Nothing really hurt, not ever.

Sayuri grounded her teeth together. "I'm sorry." She choked out. "I thought I was doing the right thing, okay?"

"You always say that- or said, you didn't talk much. But here you are, talking... Did you find that mystery man or somethin'?" Sayuri's breathing hitched. No, she hadn't found him, even if she was always looking. It wasn't necessary for him to rub it in her face, was it? Then again, she probably deserved it. Especially in his mind.

Sayuri closed her eyes tightly, willing to get out of this situation. "Yaban-"

"My name is Kenpachi Zaraki, if you hadn't noticed, girl. Really, respect your higher ups."

Itachi swooped in to stop the eruption, **_"Remember how I told you about Sasuke? Sayuri, Yaban is exactly like Sasuke. Some people very close to him have died over the last century. He believes, despite their good intentions, that someone he saw as a sister or mother, even, was the cause of it. He wants to avenge Tami, but he doesn't necessarily want to kill you. That's just the only way he thinks he can respect Tami's death. So, show him the__ light."_ **Itachi had the voice of a story teller and he seemed extremely worried, his face showed it even if his voice was calming. Sayuri let out a shaky breath.

"I tried to be friends with Sasuke," She murmured under her breath. "He seemed like a lonely kid, even before the massacre. He visited the bookshop almost everyday..." Sayuri scoffed. "He didn't want friends though, he wanted revenge. I'm sorry I couldn't save him." Sayuri looked Kenpachi in the eyes and sighed, "I'm certainly not going to let you go, Yaban. I never really have."

Kenpachi scoffed, "Let go of me, please." Sayuri said sternly. Kenpachi swung her tauntingly.

"What chu gonna do, eh? Scold me like a mother would?"

Sayuri narrowed her amber eyes, which had began to sink into a red. "Captain Zaraki, release me."

"Nope. Try a little harder. Hit a little harder. Challenge me, excite me, then I'll think about dropping you." He said with a feral grin. Sayuri swung one arm to pull something from the back of her shihakusho and showed a little button that resembled his eye patch slightly. Kenpachi gazed at it surprised. "Ooh, so you have too much spiritual pressure too, eh?"

Sayuri gave him a blank look. "I'm able to control it, actually. But just in case I feel like I'm going to lose it, Head Captain Yamamoto is informed of my leaking spiritual pressure. I really don't want to call him."

Kenpachi scoffed and dropped her, allowing Sayuri to land softly. "Coward," He spat. "Always running away."

"Take your officers to the healing bay, Zaraki." Sayuri said, ignoring how much that hurt. "And you have paperwork waiting outside, seeing as it is the reason I came here in the first place." Sayuri went towards the door and looked at the officer she had burned and realized that there wasn't much time for his hands. She dropped down next to him and took his hands in hers. A green glow encased their hands and his skin started to regrow. The officer sighed in relief and Sayuri stood up and left.

**It was the right thing to do, Sayuri.**

**You were doing the right thing. Never forget that.**

**.**

_**"If it was right, why do I feel like crying?"**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Several years, but not too many years, later...**_

* * *

The timetable for the bus said it would arrive at 8:30, but his watch clearly said 8:50am. As he looked down the road, which showed the very tip of the mall, you could see no bus. His brow furrowed as he began to fidget with his bag strap. His teacher was going to rip him limb from limb in he showed up late one more time, she had made that clear yesterday. Maybe taking up Ichigo's offer to stay the night at his then walk with him wasn't such a repulsing idea, he would learn how to actually consider offers later. For now, his priority was arriving at school without getting his head bitten off like a barbie doll.

The adolescent began to tug at his sun-kissed blond hair as his patience began to waver and his fear began to rise. Being late would certainly not do. _'Dammit!'_ he cussed as he checked his watch once again. Where was this damn bus? As fate would have it, he began to see the rising roof of a large, nearly empty, vehicle. To his relief, the driver wasn't drunk nor was he a criminal, he was simply just a tired old man who looked like he needed a raise. As the bus screeched to a stop in front of him, the boy climbed into it and scanned his bus pass, courtesy of Isshin. Bless him. No one else got on the bus, so it was a quiet and unnerving drive. He was hoping the driver didn't pass out on the wheel and send them off the edge of something into a fiery inferno because he had to hand in his maths assignment. Mrs Kutcher, the only teacher of English heritage in the class, was never going to accept death as an excuse for late work.

He arrived at school just at the bell rang which actually wasn't a good sign. His form class was at the highest level of this godforsaken high school. Luck didn't favor him today, it was probably laughing as it perched on his shoulder and cursed everything... Which would explain why he slipped over a banana peel as he ran- What kind of rude, unloved child would leave a banana peel so close to the trash? Anyway, he managed to reach his classroom just as the bell for Japanese went, after he received detention for not only being late but for running in the hallway.

He burst through the door just as everyone began to get up, panting. "Ah, Mr Uzumaki. How nice of you to join us... Run into a bit of trouble, hm?" Mrs Hiroshima asked rather sarcastically as she looked at the blond with her beady dark brown eyes.

The adolescent huffed, "Sorry miss-" He began as he rummaged through excuses that would work today. Mrs Hiroshima raised her hand and tidied up some messy paper on her desk, making it fit in with the organized everything in her room. She always cleaned when she was nervous, stressed or irritated. The amount of cleaning she did signified the severity of her annoyance with the world.

"It's quite alright, Uzumaki. Kurosaki has already explained to me the reason of your tardiness and I must express my condolences for your loss." She said actually looked quite sincere about it. He blinked and glanced at the tall kid with the bright orange hair, raising an eyebrow. Ichigo just rolled his eyes and swung his bag over his shoulder.

He turned back to the teacher and gave a sad smile, "Yeah... Thanks for understanding, miss. Am I marked away absent?" The teacher shook her head and he sighed in relief. "Okay... I'll be going off the maths now." He hesitantly walked towards the door waiting for her to start ripping his head off, going on about how she knew he hadn't lost a family member or whatever, but she didn't. Only watched him with sad eyes that followed him until he had ducked behind the wall.

"Jeez, Naruto. Why were you late this time?" Ichigo asked as he exited the room. Naruto fell into step with him as he looked around the corridor.

Naruto chuckled sheepishly, "Didn't you hear? Someone close to me died. It was tragic, Ichigo. Show some respect, will ya?" Naruto said as crocodile tears began to pour from his eyes. Ichigo scoffed.

"Actually, your cat died. What was his name again?" Ichigo scratched his spiky hair in thought, "Ah, that's right, Kurama!" Ichigo didn't seem that enthusiastic, then again, when did he ever? That boy always had this condescending tone when he talked to people, even with his best friends. Unless he got worked up, which only ever happened once in a blue moon... It was either monotone or angry when it came to Ichigo, so he was easy to deal with. Naruto Uzumaki was the troublesome one of the two.

Naruto scoffed, "With the way Mrs Hiroshima acted, you'd think that my mum had died or something. Not some cruddy cat." Naruto scoffed. Then, he frowned. "Kurama's a fox, dimwit."

"Fox, cat, whats the difference?" Ichigo said as he waved his hand in the air like he was trying to swat the entire conversation away.

Naruto crossed his arms and pouted, "There's a huge difference, actually! For one, foxes are actually canines while cats are felines. They're like walking homophones."

Ichigo sighed tiredly, "Homonym's, actually. Homophones are a completely different thing."

Naruto shrugged, "Not as big as a different thing as foxes and cats are, carrot top." Naruto used the nickname that always rubbed Ichigo the wrong was. True to legend, the boy bristled and glared at Naruto, the frown on his sharp face deepening by at least 100% as he tried to make himself smaller yet still threatening.

"That's not my name, Naruto." He growled lowly.

Naruto hadn't had enough however and grinned cunningly as he stared at the ceiling. "Would you rather prefer strawberry-chan? Personally, it doesn't do your hair justice. It's real vibrant, ya know? So I think it deserves better acknowledgement than a strawberry can ever give! Carrots are the orange of the orange- well, excluding an orange, which still isn't that orange compared to a carrot..." Naruto had quickly lost his train of thought and started contemplating the color of an orange and the infamous vegetable, the only one he ate.

Ichigo had gone stiff. "Shut it, fishcake!"

"That actually not that offensive since I enjoy the taste of fishcake in my ramen!" Naruto retorted teasingly, "If you really wanted to insult me... Call me menma, I really hate menma." Naruto sneered at the thought and pretended to gag which didn't gain as much attention as it would have should it be the start of the year. Naruto's antics were used to by now.

Ichigo grumbled under his breath and Naruto cupped his ear, leaning closer to him. "What was that?"

"I said," Ichigo said irritated and slightly louder. "I'm going to go to my P.E class, okay? Leave me alone." Then he stomped off like a child about to start a tantrum. Naruto snickered as he watched him go and shook his head, whispering quietly to himself.

"He doesn't even have P.E."

* * *

Naruto kicked a stone as he passed it, looking up at the gates that it had hit. On a metal plate hanging half on was his last name messily engraved on it, like a five year old had done it. Probably because a five year old did do it. Naruto looked over the gate and stared at his little house that could pass as a trailer before he flicked up the lock and pushed open the gate, ignoring the insistent squeak of the rusted metal.

"Home sweet home." Naruto murmured to himself as he stepped up to the door and unlocked it, jiggling the lock before he pulled it towards himself because of the useless lock and pushed it open. There wasn't any warm sounds, any smell of a mother or father baking in the kitchen or someone in the living room watching television. Naruto was met with this looming silence that made him want to pull his hair out on his good days.

"Mum, I'm home." Naruto called out meaninglessly. No one was going to answer him, why did he ever try? Sometimes it was instinct, to call for someone and hope that maybe, his parents would call back to him. It was a fruitless attempt, considering all his mother ever did was sit in that room of hers with a picture of his dad in her hands. She didn't move unless Naruto carried her to the destination- it worked wonders for his strength at least.

He began to walk to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, pushing things out of the way and throwing away the expired food. After finding nothing of edibility, he checked the freezer with little hope of finding something. There was a fish in some wrapping that made Naruto smile, he had nearly forgotten about it. He had went fishing yesterday and took it out of the freezer for dinner. He threw it on the grill and went down the hall to check on his mother. Uzumaki Kushina was a 30 year old woman with dead, dull, red hair and washed out blue eyes. In the photo she was holding was her pregnant, with vibrant red hair and sparkling blue eyes. Hugging her was his father, Minato, who had been murdered. It was a cold case because no one could actually find the cause of death, the police eventually decided suicide. Minato had bright blond hair like Naruto except his had longer bangs, but his eyes were just like his son's. Maybe that's why Kushina couldn't look Naruto in the eyes.

Naruto stood at the doorway for a moment, watching her and looking at the photo before he sighed and crossed his arms,"Mum, have you showered today?" No answer. She stared at the photo and began to tear up again, "Mum? Hello?" Why did he even bother if his voice just made her cry? Naruto sighed. "I'll bring you up some dinner." He murmured just second before the smell of burning fish reached his nose. "Ah, you've gotta be kidding me!" Naruto cried as he raced into the kitchen and attended to the fish.

Almost instantly as he saw the burning fish, his head began to sting. It was weird but certain things triggered Naruto's memory, or hurt his head. He couldn't really decipher if he was going crazy or he lived in another world- okay, he was going to stop right there. He was acting absolutely insane. "Bloody burnt fish," He murmured under his breath. Naruto had an unnatural fear of clay, puppets, crows and a pretty normal fear of sharks. He had absolutely no idea why he feared them but he always felt like death was near if he was close to any of them.

The entire class laughed when he refused to work with clay for an art project. Useless hammers, all of them.

Naruto flipped the fish onto a large plate and cut the head off before he began the tedious task of picking out as much bones as he could. He had to do that otherwise he'd choke on them, no matter how hard he tried to not do that.

Then a loud, high scream was heard from Kushina's room and Naruto froze in all activity, allowing fear to settle in as his blood ran cold before he bolted to his mother's room. "Mum, what's wrong?!" He shouted as he slammed the door open, eyes widening as he saw his mother stand and hide behind him. A girl who looked at least 18 with ash blonde hair cut at her shoulders and amber eyes was standing in front of him wearing a shihakusho, one that he'd only seen in books. Naruto looked at her with such fondness and familiarity that you'd think he'd known her forever when in reality, this was their first meeting.

She returned the look with a blooming hope, "Naruto?" She breathed out like it was something she had been holding in all her life. It was.

He didn't know why he wasn't freaked out by her knowing his name but rather how her name rolled off his tongue like he'd been saying it since he could speak, "Sayuri?" He questioned almost hesitantly, afraid randomly declaring a name would scare the strange girl off. But she smiled like the she was the sun and started to laugh. Started to, but was interrupted as she fell to the floor in pain, clutching her head. Naruto ran to her side and helped her lean against the cupboard.

"Uh, are you alright?" He asked confused before the pain hit him as well. He crumpled on the floor beside her with a rush of scenes flying through his mind. He felt warmth cover his entire body and he began to panic initially, until he felt someone petting his hair, running their hands through it in a way that calmed Naruto down instantly.

He saw all different kinds of scenes and they filled in so much missing blanks. He was a ninja, for one, and his mentor took the name of Konan, another ninja with piercings and lovely blue hair and grey eyes. Sometimes, a man with spiky orange hair would help train Sayuri and Naruto. They had apparently shared many adventures together, almost attached at the hip. Naruto felt the love for this girl grow as each memory passed. She was that missing piece from her life, she was what he had been subconsciously seeking. He saw himself burn the fish and be struck down by a shark-man and a giant clay bird. He saw Sayuri be suffocated by a black flame.

As Sayuri's screams of pain deafened Naruto, his vision began to seize. Before he knew it, he was out cold. Hopefully he hadn't died this time.

* * *

Sayuri sat stiffly in the springy, hard couch, holding a cup of hot tea in her hands. This wasn't how her mission was suppose to end. It had been a couple of years since she encountered Yaban- no, Kenpachi. She tried her best to avoid emotional breakdowns and division 11. Yachiru, Ikkaku and Yumichika tried their hardest to get Sayuri to talk to Kenpachi. Apparently, he was being absolutely brutal during training sessions and in general since she had revealed herself to be alive. Yachiru knew the story of course, it was what lulled her to sleep when she and Kenpachi were travelling.

She said he spoke of a tough girl with a soft heart. He named Tami, Yami, which wasn't so sneaky. He said she had beauty that could kill, beauty that killed her. Her death was brought upon the deficiency of a mule to be someone's sex slave. She had been acting tough for Yaban since Sayuri had left but had acted too tough for the man. He killed her on the spot. Her last words were; _"Find Sayuri and..."... _It was an unfinished will. One that Kenpachi had tried filling the gaps in- he had came up with killing Sayuri. In the name of Tami he made it his determination to end a life that Tami should have never saved.

Despite having talked to Head Captain Yamamoto, Kenpachi still subtly tried to maim her. When she walked around, Sayuri would find herself in an unfortunate "accident". She always managed to heal herself out of a severe state before someone from the fourth division found her and performed emergency surgery. Quite kind, they were. Kenpachi was sent on a 4 month mission since that day. Yamamoto needed to get the blood-lust out of his system.

"What are you?" The woman with red hair questioned as she stared at Naruto laying on the patchy carpet. "I can't hear you. You're silent... I can barely _see_ you and more importantly, what is your relationship with Minato?"

Sayuri blinked. "Minato...? Is that his name?"

The woman clenched her eyes shut and shook her head slowly. "Uh, no... No, its not." Her voice was trembling all of a sudden and Sayuri was suddenly afraid that she'd retreat into that state that she was found in. "Naruto's his name."

"Uzumaki Naruto." Sayuri and his mother said in unison.

Sayuri started to nod, "I know Naruto... Well, I guess I knew him. You see, I was from a different world. I still am, actually." Sayuri started to explain before she took a gulp of her tea. Tea calmed her soul significantly.

The mother didn't take her eyes off Naruto. "From America? Another country?"

"Another realm." Sayuri corrected, not taking into consideration that she didn't flinch or seem the least bit surprised. "I died from another world, a world full of ninjas, and was reborn as a soul in Soul Society. It's like heaven. I knew Naruto from my world before."

She nodded, "In your previous world, who were Naruto's parents?" His mother questioned as she rose her head to look Sayuri dead in the eyes. Sayuri realized then that this woman didn't care much for Sayuri, just her association with Naruto. She was being a mother.

Sayuri took another gulp of her tea, "Naruto's parents died when he was born. They sacrificed themselves for our village's sake... They were legends, where we came from. Heroes. There wasn't a single soul who didn't know about them," Sayuri explained with a smile at the thought. "Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina... I'm guessing you're Kushina then?"

Kushina had began to cry, mouth covered by her hands as they muffled her whimpers. She was a hero...! Her dear departed was a hero. They had sacrificed their own lives for their home and their son. She was overwhelmed, absolutely, inevitably, chuffed. This soul, this girl, Sayuri, smiled at her and nodded. Kushina felt herself beginning to smile. She was Naruto's mother, in both worlds. She loved him in both world's. She wasn't going to lose him twice.

"It's really an honor meeting you, I think... Are you proud of Naruto?" Sayuri asked Kushina, who nodded rapidly. "I think that'll make him very happy, Ms Uzumaki."

Kushina smiled. "I haven't had the chance to make him happy in a very long time."


End file.
